


Breaker of Hearts

by Nakasawa444



Category: GOT7
Genre: Cyberbullying, Fluff, Jinmark, M/M, Markjin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 08:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18406874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nakasawa444/pseuds/Nakasawa444
Summary: Mark turned Jinyoung down in preschool. 20 years later, Mark’s a famous model while he’s a college prof & a Mark anti. One drunken moment led him to send Mark a hate tweet. It went viral. The next day, Mark turns up in his office. Prompt by @markjintweetsHello dear birds, this is my first ever one shot. I'm glad I could use this sweet prompt of @markjintweets. If you're not following them on twitter, please go and change that. It's worth it. :)There's a change I made which probably will catch your eye. In this, our Jinyoungie is a high school teacher. We're going to meet his students as well. ^^ I hope you'll like it.





	Breaker of Hearts

“Good morning class.”

 

“Good morning Mr. Park.” The voices of his students sound energetic and cheerful. Friday is his class’s favorite day of the school week and that makes it Jinyoung’s favorite day as well. Everyone is fresh and bright-eyed and buzzing with anticipation for the long-awaited weekend. No comparison can be made to the barely alive, grumpy kids he sees in his class every Monday.

 

“How is everyone today?”

 

“In desperate need of weekend,” Yugyeom comments, followed by his usual cheeky snickering.

 

“Soon. Hold on for a bit longer.”

 

“Mr. Park, you don't want to be here, we don't want to be here. Why don't we part ways for today?” Jackson, the playful loud one, tries to bargain and actually seems to think that his cheap try has any chance of success.

 

“Jackson, sit down and shut up or I’ll inform your grandma about your inappropriate behavior and I know she’ll punish you according to Chinese tradition.”

 

“Ugh…. no fun at all.”

 

The door is yanked open and a very confused BamBam is showing up.

 

“Nice of you to join us as well, BamBam. And…ooohh…. it’s your earliest time showing up all week. Congratulations.”

 

“Thanks Mr. Park, I was trying really hard,” the boy says with a lazy smile on his face as he sluggishly makes his way to his regular seat.

 

“You look like you just fell out of bed. What’s with this hair?” The boy just keeps on smiling and shrugs slightly.

 

“You don’t look so fresh either, Mr. Park,” Youngjae tosses in, way too loud and cheekily smiling. Jinyoung is sure that together with Jackson he would be able to defeat a whole choir when it comes to sound intensity.

 

“Thank you for pointing that out, Youngjae, even though I didn’t ask for any appearance evaluation from my students.”

 

“Just sayin.”

 

“Yes, me too.”

 

“But he’s right, Mr. Park. Are you not feeling well today?” Hyejin asks. The girl looks him up and down with a serious expression on her face, examining him with sharp eyes through her rose rimmed glasses.

 

Jinyoung smiles at her, then at the rest of his students because suddenly they all look at him with troubled expressions. “No need to worry. I’m fine. I guess I’m in need of some free time as well, maybe not as much as our dear Yugyeom here, but still.”

 

His students start to snicker, the whiff of worry already forgotten as they are eyeing the sheepish looking Yugyeom.

 

Jinyoung doesn’t like to share this bit of information with his students but they aren’t wrong actually. He spent way too much time last night watching an interview with a certain model who he dislikes with a passion. Usually they say ignore who you don’t like and usually Jinyoung can follow that advice just fine but this is another case. This is something personal. He can’t ignore Mark Tuan, who once was his preschool crush, who Jinyoung confessed to with all his innocent love and hopes in it, who shamelessly broke Jinyoung's heart and even laughed in his face while doing it, the Mark Tuan, who today is a famous and successful model. Jinyoung didn't meet him again after their preschool days but he never really did forget about him and the troubling memories which left such a deep impression on his toddler-mind. Mark was his first crush and his first big heartbreak.

 

It wouldn’t have been so bad, if Mark would have just lived on as a normal commoner and simply submerged in the anonymity of the city, if he would just stayed out of Jinyoung’s life. But no, that was apparently too much to ask. When Jinyoung was in his thriving teenage years he saw Mark’s pictures in a fashion magazine. To say he was surprised is the understatement of the century. Apparently it was his debut as a model and to Jinyoung’s horror that was only the start of Mark’s success story. There came more shootings, whole photo series, fashion shows, endorsement deals with famous brands, interviews, appearances in variety shows and so on. Soon Jinyoung couldn’t take a single step anymore without any Mark Tuan content sliding into his field of vision. It was too much to ignore so Jinyoung did the exact opposite, he followed his career from the sidelines. He monitored every single success and every step up the career ladder which his former preschool friend made. Jinyoung begrudged him everything. Jaebum says he’s obsessed with the model but what does he know? Nothing! Jinyoung just lives the concept of keeping your friends close, but your enemies closer.

 

The most annoying thing about all of this is that Mark Tuan's handsomeness is still increasing from year to year. He was a cute and cool kid but that’s no comparison to his looks today. Also Jinyoung hates that behind this pretty face and his dazzling smile hides a nasty person who recklessly breaks hearts without any mercy. And nobody knows this fact as good as Jinyoung does. The whole country is cheering for him and nobody even assumes a single thing about his true personality.

 

“Mr. Park, can we watch a movie?” BamBam asks and snaps Jinyoung to attention with it.

 

“Why would we of all times watch a movie today?”

 

“Because it’s Friday?”

 

“You said yesterday it would be good to watch a movie because it was Thursday.”

 

“And I don’t think that I was wrong but you didn’t listen anyway.”

 

“And that’s how it goes today as well. Open your text books to page 241, please.”

 

A groan of general unwillingness travels through the room which has Jinyoung rolling his eyes. Not even the fact that it’s Friday can save him from their grumbling. Nevertheless he starts to teach the history lesson.

 

Only a few minutes into the topic he notices a whispered disturbance in the back of the class. From the corner of his eye he sees Jenna and Sowon discussing something while staring at the same phone screen. These girls are never good to be quiet for longer than a minute, Jinyoung knows that, but he won’t get tired of calling them out.

 

“Ladies, I’m sure the recent history in your social media feed is much more interesting than my lesson, still I demand your attention here.”

 

Both girls are looking up and blink at him with round eyes. At least they have the decency to look a little sheepish after being caught red-handed.

 

“Yeah, so annoying. You never pay attention,” Jackson rants, smirking at their misfortune.

 

“Are you kidding me, Wang? You were sleeping until just now,” Sowon grumbles, pointing her manicured index finger at him accusingly.

 

“But we’re talking not about me. We’re talking about your recurrent chattering, right Mr. Park?”

 

“Basically yes, but we all know it's a success for you to stay awake during a lesson, Jackson. So why don't we try to reach your maximum level of achievement today? Are you with me?”

 

“Damn,” the boy in question mutters.

 

“HAH!” Sowon gloats now as she watches Jackson’s misfortune.

 

“Which doesn’t mean you’re off the hook, ladies,” Jinyoung clears up and immediately both of their faces twist in a grimace.

 

“HAH!”

 

“Jackson, shut up,” Jinyoung says listlessly and rolls his eyes.

 

“But Mr. Park, I’m not allowed to leave, I’m not allowed to sleep and I’m not allowed to talk? How to survive?”

 

“Try the concept of quietly listening and learning?” the teacher suggests.

 

“BUT HOW TO SURVIVE?”

 

“Jackson, shut up,” he repeats before he turns to the girls. “So do I have your attention now?”

 

Both girls are fidgeting in their seats, seeming uneasy and looking at each other with troubled eyes. Eventually Jenna can’t hold back anymore and blurts out what makes them this unsettled. “But Mr. Park, it’s an emergency!” She looks truly pitiful with her sad eyes and her jutted out bottom lip. Jinyoung hopes she’s overreacting like she usually tends to.

 

“And what would that be about?”

 

“We just got the news that Mark Tuan was seen with an actress and now all kinds of dating rumors are spreading,” Sowon explains, looking just as woeful as her friend next to her. Now Jinyoung can very well relate to their stirred up minds because his blood runs cold and his thoughts explode into million tiny pieces.

 

“Mark Tuan? As in the famous model Mark Tuan?” Youngjae interrogates.

 

“Yes, THE Mark Tuan,” Sowon confirms.

 

“W-W-What? That can’t be right!” Jinyoung mutters and marches to the back of the class to snatch Jenna’s phone and have a look. And there it is, a photo of the said model and the actress, Hwang Yereum, standing close, facing each other, smiling at each other while they obviously having no idea that they are being watched. That’s a catastrophe! Jinyoung’s insides twist and churn at this sight. A heavy cloud of gloominess engulfs his mind. Why is a simple photo of this jerk, which doesn’t even is a proof for anything, is affecting him so much?

 

“Tragic, right Mr. Park?” Jenna whines, seeking support in her despair.

 

“Uhm… it’s not a big thing because …yeah… whatever.”

 

“Just now you didn’t look like whatever at all, Mr. Park,” Yugyeom points out. “You looked like you wouldn’t be allowed to eat your favorite pie for the rest of your life anymore.” Great, all his usual composure vanished just by hearing a stupid rumor about that despicable guy. Just how weak of a person is he? Anyway, Jinyoung concludes that he should stop his inner scolding and try to save himself from the suspicion of his students. Because they never show any interest for his history lessons but as soon as it concerns gossip, they are all suddenly turning into Sherlock Holmes.

 

“What are you talking about? I couldn’t care less about this third-rate model boy and his liaisons.”

 

“Don’t say liaisons! It sounds like they would really have something going on,” Jenna wails and Sowon tries to soothe her by rubbing her shoulder, her eyes full of sympathy.

 

“But what does it concern you?”

 

“He can’t have a girlfriend,” she whines.

 

“Yeah, because Jenna wants to be his girlfriend,” Jackson explains, chuckling.

 

“Well, that certainly will never happen,” Hyejin comments businesslike. Yep, Jinyoung thinks, she never is one to sugarcoat things. Yugyeom and Jackson burst into laughter while Jenna yelps and Sowon looks like she wants to kill at least 50% of the people in the room right now.

 

“Can we all calm down, please?” Jinyoung tries to quieten them down even though his own emotions are acting very much contrary to his request.

 

“But Mr. Park, we can’t just continue like nothing happened.”

 

“Sowon, nothing DID happen.”

 

“Well, Mr. Park, Mark Tuan is a well-known idol these days with much influence. These rumors are probably discussed a lot in the media so it definitely is an event which might cause a historical impact and we just don’t know it yet.” He likes Hyejin very much because she’s clever and observing and can express herself well. But in situations like these her good qualities make his life 10 times harder.

 

“So what do you expect from me? That I will disregard the curriculum to discuss the latest gossip about some celebrity?”

 

“Exactly!”

 

“YAS!”

 

“Who’s my favorite teacher? You’re my favorite teacher!”

 

Jinyoung rolls his eyes. He should have expected these reactions.

 

“Also you looked kind of interested as well, Mr. Park,” Youngjae chimes in, “Even though I can’t judge, if it’s because you’re a fan as well or because you don’t like him at all. But you don’t react like that when somebody doesn’t matter to you.” Yep, Jinyoung thinks, they are all back in their Sherlock Holmes mode. Like bloodhounds they sensed his secret and made it their mission to uncover everything.

 

Jinyoung sighs. “I might not be very fond of him, that’s true.” As expected, all eyes are on him now.

 

“Why?” Sowon simply asks.

 

“Personal reasons,” Jinyoung replies curtly.

 

This elicits a wave of oohs and aahs in the room. Jinyoung knows he only has fueled their curiosity and he wonders how he ended up in a situation like this when only minutes ago he was teaching history, like he also should be right now.

 

“He’s hot though,” BamBam tosses in without anyone asking for it. All the girls and Jackson start to squeal at that.

 

“BamBam, my spirit animal, I feel you,” Jenna whines, almost starting to cry.

 

“What animal?” the boy wonders, looking confused.

 

“BamBam is right,” Yugyeom supports, “he’s hot and super cool in whatever he does. Also rumor has it that he works very professional and he also is being said to have a good personality.”

 

“That’s a lie.” Damn, that wasn’t planned, Jinyoung thinks, being already done with himself. It just slipped from his tongue but for sure it didn’t go unnoticed by the bloodhounds.

 

“That sounds like you know him personally,” Hyejin concludes and her narrowed eyes bore into him in the most unpleasant way.

 

“Yes, what’s up with that, Mr. Park?” Youngjae wants to know.

 

“If there’s any connection, you have to tell us!” Jenna demands while she’s bouncing in her seat.

 

“Right, you’re basically obligated to tell us!” BamBam pipes up. The usually sleepy looking boy seems way too excited now.

 

“Well, I’m not. My only obligation to you is to teach you history and that’s exactly what we will do now. I don’t want to see any mobile phones anymore and I don’t want to hear the name Mark Tuan from any of you.”

 

The onslaught of complaints is definitely something he expected. Anyway, he doesn’t want to share his humiliating preschool story with his students and he doesn’t want to discuss the private life of that dreadful person anymore either.

 

 

 

(●＾o＾●)

 

 

 

“Jaebum, can you imagine? Can you? This odd actress, what would he see in her? I don’t think she’s anything special.” Jinyoung looks at his best friend pleadingly. He wants validation but Jaebum just sighs for what feels like the hundredth time this evening.

 

He takes another swig from his beer bottle before he sighs again. “Jinyoung, why do you even care?”

 

“Because…. because it’s annoying!”

 

“Why? Why can’t you just ignore everything he does? It’s not like it would affect your life in any way.”

 

Jaebum is way too level-headed. Usually Jinyoung appreciates this quality a lot but right now he wants him to bitch together with him about that horrible person instead of just discuss anything in a reasonable way. He empties his third beer and opens the fourth bottle before he replies. “I can’t, Jaebum. I just want him to fail, only once would be enough but look at him getting more recognition by the day. I can’t get over this so easily.”

 

“But the whole evening you were only whining about these new dating rumors and that this girl is not suitable for him and so on. No word about his career or anything.”

 

“Yeah, because you know all of this already, so why talk about it even more? But the dating rumors are a new aspect in this whole ordeal-“

 

“Still you talk like she’s not good enough for him while you’re usually going on about him not being worthy enough to breathe air. Explain!”

 

“I really don’t want to.”

 

“What?”

 

“Explain myself. I don’t want to do that.”

 

“You’re not making any sense but you probably know that.”

 

“I’m tipsy-“

 

“Don’t blame it on the alcohol! Nobody is going on and on and on about the same person without harboring any feelings for them. You can tell me, if you still like him, you know? No judging.”

 

“I don’t! He’s a jerk.”

 

Jaebum sighs again. “Okay, let us just change the topic because this discussion is futile. How was school today?”

 

“Dreadful, all my students talked about Mark Tuan,” Jinyoung mutters.

 

Jaebum sighs again. “You know what? We should just call it a day and you should go to bed.”

 

“No, I’m not done drinking yet. It’s Friday and I’m down and I didn’t drink enough yet to live up to those two facts.”

 

Jaebum sighs again.

 

 

 

(●＾o＾●)

 

 

 

Jinyoung wakes up, feeling not good at all. His eyes are burning and his head is pounding and it feels like something furry lives on his tongue. Only after collecting himself he notices his phone's excited buzzing on his night stand. Groggily he reaches over to find out who calls him so early. Actually it’s not so early, he then realizes. It’s already noon.

 

His best friend's name is flashing across the display.

 

“Jaebum, what's up?”

 

“What's up? What's up? You honestly ask me WHAT'S UP? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR DAMN MIND?” Jinyoung has to pull the phone away from his ear to not have the full yelling power of Im Jaebum wrecking his ear drum.

 

“I don't know what's up but I just woke up and my head hurts and I don't need you to yell at me because I repeat: my head hurts.”

 

“You just woke up.... so you don't even know yet?”

 

“What are you talking about?” Jinyoung grumbles, slowly losing his patience.

 

“The tweet which you apparently posted last night-”

 

“Which tweet?”

 

“Oh my god you don't even fucking remember?”

 

Jaebum's tone of voice isn't good for Jinyoung's nerves. It makes him anxious and he wishes the other would just come out with whatever it is that's so scandalous that it deserves such an introduction. “Jaebum, what is it?”

 

“You obviously drunk-tweeted last night.”

 

“What?”

 

“Wait, I specify. You obviously drunk-hate-tweeted last night.”

 

“I don't.... I mean I... I don't remember a single thing from last night, at least not after we've said our goodbyes.”

 

“Seems like you had quite the entertaining time after that because you sent a freaking hate tweet to Mark Tuan's account.”

 

Jinyoung searches for air in his body. There must be some somewhere in his lungs. He knows he needs to breathe but nothing happens, the shock is too deep. “No, I didn't,” he gasps.

 

“Oh yes you did. And guess what, it totally blew up over night. Let me check, there are 276K retweets and 402K likes. You're kind of famous now.”

 

“You're kidding me.”

 

“I wish it would be like that.”

 

Jinyoung can't believe this. This isn't happening. His drunken state wasn't that bad, right? He would never have let himself do something this stupid, right? Despite the alcohol, the voice of reason must have still been lingering in the back of his mind, right?

 

“Jinyoung? Are you still there?”

 

“Y-Yes...... Jaebum, w-what....... what did I write?”

 

“Okay, I'm gonna read it to you but don't freak out, okay?”

 

“So it's that bad... oh my god.”

 

“Just listen. 'You freaking jerk broke hearts since you can walk and you won't stop anytime soon. Also you laugh about your victim's pain and find joy in their misery! Everyone should beware of you!! I despise you, you damn trash-human fucking mean bastard bitch!!!!' Yep, well... that's it.”

 

“....”

 

“Jinyoung?”

 

“Please tell me that you are just kidding me and I didn't send that to Mark Tuan and the whole world knows. Please!”

 

“Sorry, that's how it is.”

 

“I want to fucking die.”

 

“A lot of Mark Tuan supporters apparently want that, too.”

 

“Oh my god, they will find me and slaughter me. Jaebum, what should I do? I have to delete it.”

 

“I assume it wouldn't change much anymore. I'm also worried because your students will see.”

 

“But... no wait, they won't know it's me. JigglypuffPiratePark could be anyone.”

 

“While that's true, you obviously forgot that your display picture is a very nice selfie and your face is clearly recognizable.”

 

“I..... really forgot that. Huh... guess that's a problem. Hey, how is my spelling in that tweet?”

 

“What?”

 

“I was drunk as heck so is it very embarrassing?”

 

“Nope, it's great. But could you please stop being a fucking teacher and see what is going on here? Mark Tuan's agency could sue you, Jinyoung.”

 

“That's right. Okay, I'm going to delete that tweet and hope for the best for now. I will also stay in my apartment and hide for the whole weekend. And I hope everything is over next Monday.”

 

“That's wishful thinking but if it's helpful to maintain your sanity, please go ahead and believe this lie.”

 

“Ugh.”

 

“It might help, if you would tweet an apology.”

 

“I won't.”

 

“Jinyoung!”

 

“I don't want to apologize. I admit it wasn't the most thought-out statement but it wasn't wrong. And he probably doesn't even care anyway. In short, I don't want to do it.”

 

“You are so damn stubborn.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Okay, I hang up now. But please message me once an hour so I know that nobody murdered you yet.”  
  


“That's so sweet of you,” Jinyoung mumbles, every word loaded with sarcasm.

 

 

 

(●＾o＾●)

 

 

 

To be honest, Jinyoung is perceiving the extent of his great fuck up only slowly. His mentions are skyrocketing. He only looks at a few before he gets an unpleasant feeling in his stomach. He dares to peek at his direct messages. There are some supporters who are congratulating him to his ‘clever phrased’ statement. Honestly, Jinyoung has no idea what about his onslaught of insults is supposed to be clever. The more he looks at his own doing, the more he is ashamed. However, the majority of his direct messages are straightforward threats, probably sent by dedicated members of the Mark Tuan fan club. After a couple of those messages the unpleasant feeling develops into a sick sensation rebelling in his insides. He closes his direct messages and trudges to his front door, making sure it’s properly locked because safety comes first.

 

Apparently it’s not only the number of retweets that is worrisome, also the amount of times his tweet has been quoted and commented by people is a reason why this blew up so much. Even some celebrities felt the need to offer their opinions. It seems like the whole country wants to share some thoughts about this, only one remains eerily quiet: Mark Tuan himself.

 

He’s sure it doesn’t make much of a difference but he deletes his tweet and changes his display picture to Jigglypuff. The rest of the weekend he tries to stay under the radar as much as possible and also he keeps himself away from twitter most of the time. Only occasionally he sneaks a peek to see if Mark reacted in any way. There’s nothing.

 

 

 

(●＾o＾●)

 

 

 

“Good morning class. I expect you to be as fresh as morning dew today.”

 

“It’s bitter when expectations are met with so much disappointment, Mr. Park,” Hyejin points out. This hurts even more because she looks at him with her ever so serious expression.

 

“Thank you for your report, Hyejin. That gives me the impression that you all are your usual, overly tired, social-media addicted corpse-selves who I see here every Monday. Nice,” Jinyoung says dryly.

 

It’s Monday and he came to school with the general plan of pretending nothing had happened over the weekend. It’s a vague plan but what choices does he have? There is at least little hope left that

 

  1. his students didn’t become aware of this scandalous tweet at all or

  2. that they at least didn’t catch on to the fact that it was their own teacher who sent it or

  3. that nobody of them miraculously had any internet access over the past few days.




 

“It's so uncool to hate-tweet, Mr. Park,” Sowon grumbles. Apparently he hoped in vain.

 

“You just say that because you have the hots for Mark Tuan,” Jackson teases, way too loud for a Monday morning.

 

“Nooo,” the girl whines in response. “I mean, yes, I do, but it’s still super uncool.”

 

“It wouldn’t matter to you, if Mr. Park would have hate-tweeted about Park Shinhye,” Jackson challenges.

 

“It would because it still would be uncool!”

 

“Okay, can everybody calm down?” Jinyoung asks, feeling already as tired as his students are looking.

 

“You even had your own face as display picture, Mr. Park,” Yugyeom points out. “Who does that when one hate-tweets?”

 

“I didn't really plan on it, Yugyeom.”

 

“And the username? JigglypuffPiratePark? So nerdy,” Youngjae laughs. Jinyoung sighs. It was too much to ask for them to ignore it, right? They won’t shut up about this until the day they graduate.

 

“Thanks for your evaluation, Youngjae. I’ll consider it.”

 

“Mr. Park, so far I thought you were… well not swag but at least decent, for a teacher I mean. But now… ugh,” Jenna finally whines. He was afraid of her wrath the most. Turns out she’s more crestfallen than angry. Jinyoung thinks he would have liked angry better.

 

“I’m sorry to have disappointed your swag expectations of me. Guess I won’t ever match your fave idol, huh? I’m just a teacher after all.”

 

“My fave Idol is Mark Tuan and you slandered him! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!” Okay, maybe crestfallen wasn’t that bad.

 

Jinyoung sighs once again, ruffles his hair and takes a seat on his desk to be closer to his students for the following talk. He just gives up his vague plan. It obviously isn’t working anyway.

 

“Okay kids, I admit I really screwed up. I wasn’t in my right mind while doing it. I’m truly sorry. And you’re right, it’s not cool at all to hate-tweet. It’s not cool to hate on other people in any way.”

 

His students solemnly nod along with his statement. “See, I told you there was something off with it, right? I told you he would come around, right?” Youngjae whispers, as always too loud, to the boy next to him. The thought of how much he had tarnished his own reputation in front of his students, pains Jinyoung the most. They obviously held him in high esteem before this happened and Jinyoung just hopes that he didn’t ruin every last bit of trust they had in him.

 

“So kids, what do you think? When will the world let me live this down?”

 

“The hate-tweet or the dumb twitter name?” Jackson asks. “For the first one I would say that there are happening enough things every day that this will be over for you after a week or two. But the name is inexcusable.”

 

Jinyoung rolls his eyes.

 

“Jackson is an idiot but he’s probably right,” Hyejin comments. In the background Jackson yelps, ready to start protesting but Hyejin just ignores him. “But why did you do it, Mr. Park? I mean we all got the message that you’re not the biggest fan of Mark Tuan but to resort to such measures is truly unusual for you.”

 

Jinyoung doesn’t want to risk them losing the last bit of respect they have for him so he absolutely won’t tell them that he was too hammered to think straight. “Sometimes you just do spur of the moment kind of things and regret it later. It happens even to adults. I hope this incident at least taught you to think things over before acting. It was definitely a lesson I learned once more from this.”

 

There’s nodding again.

 

“Mr. Park? Did Mark Tuan maybe contact you after this?” Youngjae asks carefully.

 

“Or his lawyer?” Sowon adds curiously.

 

Jinyoung at least has to smile about this. His students will forever remain a source of entertainment for him.

 

“Valid question, but no. So far only a couple of his die-hard fans threatened to stab me. But I didn’t get an official warning or something. It’s probably hard to identify a twitter user just like that. Also I doubt that his team cares enough about one single tweet to take legal action.”

 

“But it got huge,” Yugyeom disagrees in amazement.

 

“Still it was just one opinion among millions.” Jinyoung shrugs and slides off his desk to take a seat behind it. “Now that we discussed that matter, it’s time for our lovely history lesson. The kids are groaning in hushed voices at that. Except Jackson and Youngjae, they will never learn what a hushed voice is.

 

Jinyoung opens his teaching materials. “Okay, is anyone awake enough to name the page we left off? Anyone? No? I thought so. Okay, please open to page 246. We will get to your homework later but first I want to discuss the following text with you.”

 

Jinyoung scans the page to start reading when he hears the familiar thud of the door. Without taking the trouble to look up he starts to utter one of his usual Monday greetings. “Good morning, BamBam. I guess you gave it your all last Friday so it’s fine to be 20 minutes late on Monday, right? Or did you actually forget that the weekend is over?”

 

Two things are tipping him off. The first one is the lack of response from the usual cheery boy. The second one are the sounds of gasps and tiny shrieks which are suddenly filling the class room.

 

That’s reason enough for Jinyoung to bother and finally look up. And when he beholds the guy standing in front of the closed door, he falls into line and also shrieks. In his class room, the one and only Mark Tuan is present. His eyes are fixing Jinyoung with an intense stare, face serious but so unreasonably handsome that he thinks all these photos in the magazines don’t live up to the real thing in the slightest. Not only is he handsome, no, he also looks so enticing, it should be illegal. In his gray ripped skinny jeans and his leather jacket over a dark green hoodie he looks like he fell right out of a movie. His blonde, styled hair doesn’t help in the slightest to let him appear more like a human instead of some divine being which stepped down from heaven just to kick Jinyoung’s ass.

 

Jinyoung faintly registers how somebody in the room whispers awestruck, “It’s freaking Mark Tuan.” And that did the trick. The breathless silence is broken by cheers and squeals and a lot of OH MY GODs.

 

The model takes his eyes off Jinyoung for the first time to let them flit around the room, becoming aware of the rambunctious students. Eventually a smile appears on that handsome face while his hand comes up and he cautiously waves at them. Right now he doesn’t look like the stuck up heartbreaker, who he is.

 

The clicking noise of a phone somewhere snaps Jinyoung out of his daze. He stands up and faces his class with a firm look. “Okay, calm down everybody. I want you to be quiet and I don’t want to see a single phone here. No pics, no videos, no voice recordings! And Jenna, delete the 40 photos you already took in the last two seconds.”

 

“But Mr. Pahahahahaaaark,” she wails with the most pitiful expression.

 

“I said delete them or I will fail you every year until you graduate.”

 

“Mr. Paaaaaaaaark!”

 

“No mercy, delete or fail.”

 

“Fine,” the girl huffs.

 

“Jackson, watch her and make sure she deletes everything.”

 

“Yas!” the blonde cheers and jumps to his feet. In a heartbeat his face is almost in the girl’s phone’s display.

 

“Mr. Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaark!”

 

“Get it over with. And I want everybody quiet.” Jinyoung thinks it’s incredible how he still can pretend to be so level-headed in front of his students while his guts are riding a roller-coaster. “And Jackson, that was no general permission for you to roam around. Back to your seat!”

 

“Mr. Paaaaaaaark!” the blonde imitates Jenna just to be annoying.

 

“Sit! Back! Down!”

 

His student sulkily complies and Jinyoung almost wishes that he had made more of a fuss because now he has to deal with the new arrival in the room. He slowly turns to the side to face the model who is already staring at him again.

 

“Park Jinyoung,” is the first thing he says with his deep voice but in a neutral tone and it’s enough to send the class into a frenzy once again.

 

“Oh my god, Mark Tuan knows our teacher’s name!”

 

“Of course he does. He’s probably here to beat him up after the hate tweet.”

 

“Who will be our teacher when Mr. Park goes to jail? All the other teachers suck.”

 

“I know your attention span is short but please remember I have asked you to be quiet,” Jinyoung reminds and it’s sufficient to shush everybody. The teacher once again turns to their guest, preparing to do something wild, like speaking.

 

“Mark Tuan, you deliver the indictments in person? Don't you have staff for that?” Jinyoung inwardly congratulates himself to his statement, happy that it didn’t come out as a pathetic squeak.

 

“Jinyoung, what are you talking about?” The seriousness which was evident on his face while he examined Jinyoung before entirely vanished to make way for adorable confusion.

 

“Are you not here to sue me?”

 

“What? I…uhm... no, I'm not.”

 

“OH MY FREAKING GOD IT’S MARK TUAN!”

 

“Oh, a bewildered BamBam appeared. Nice of you to finally join us with not less than 32 minutes delay,” Jinyoung says dryly and looks at the shocked boy in the doorway who is still gaping at the model. Very slowly he shuts the door and carefully steps closer, beholding Mark like he would be some kind of deity.

 

“Mr. Park, Im sorry. I forgot the weekend was over already and OH MY GOD MARK TUAN!”

 

“Yes, fine, whatever. Just sit do-“

 

“Can I hug you?” the boy blurts out and slides his thin body already into Mark’s personal space.

 

“BamBam!” Jinyoung warns but after a few seconds of obvious confusion Mark laughs.

 

“Sure, why not?!” In a split second his student tightly embraces Mark and the whole class is in turmoil again. Apparently several kids wish to be BamBam all of the sudden. A lot of complaining starts about how it is unfair that, of all people, the latecomer gets such a mind-blowing reward.

 

The hug goes on and Mark looks like he’s ready to end it for quite some time already. Seems like the student has other plans though. “BamBam! Detach yourself now!” Jinyoung demands sternly.

 

“But-“

 

“Now!”

 

Muttering under his breath, the boy breaks the hug but doesn’t bother to step a centimeter away from the model. “And now go to your seat!”

 

BamBam readies himself to protest but Mark pipes up first. “Hey buddy, be a good student and listen to your teacher, okay?” This statement is spoken softly and is accompanied with an encouraging squeeze of the younger’s shoulder. BamBam noticeably swallows and slowly nods. When he retreats to find his seat he’s not even able to take his eyes off the model.

 

Mark turns back to look at the teacher again and the class quietens down, as if the show in front of them would be too thrilling to interrupt it with mindless chatter. “Jinyoung, how are you?”

 

“You came all the way here into my class to make small talk?”

 

“I could also say: Hey Jinyoung, how’s your life as a cyber bully going? Last time I checked, very successful,” Mark casually states and shrugs slightly, a side-loped grin playing on his lips. At least a few students try to stifle their giggles.

 

“That’s… that’s…. I… Don’t bring that up in front of my class!” Jinyoung demands, acting absolutely scandalized because he just doesn’t know what to say and how to act instead.

 

“But Mr. Park, we were speaking about this all morning already,” Yugyeom points out.

 

“Wow, nobody asked and still you’re talking, Yugyeom,” Jinyoung hisses.

 

To his surprise Mark starts to chuckle at that. “You were already petty as a kid but I never would have assumed it would be even worse two decades later.”

 

The impact which his careless words have on Jinyoung is unstoppable. He can’t even form a single straight thought before he blurts out, ”I wasn't petty! You broke my damn heart!”

 

Every single person in the room looks at him with nothing less than astonishment playing across their faces.

 

“What?”

 

“The confession! I confessed to you and you just laughed in my face and that broke my heart.”

 

“I broke YOUR heart? How did you expect I would react to your confession after you talked trash behind my back? I thought your confession was just a way of making fun of me.” The cool left Mark as quickly as it left Jinyoung before, the issue obviously still very much present in both minds. A lot of quiet oohs and aahs and wows are uttered around them.

 

“Trash? What do you mean by trash?”

 

“Such bad memory, Park?” Mark now outright sneers.

 

“I don't know what you're talking about, conceited model boy,” Jinyoung grunts in reply.

 

There are coming whines and yelps and perplexed ‘Mr. Park’s from some students.

 

“Fuck you! I talk about you telling Maryanna Chong that I have eyes like a hammerhead shark!” The statement is supported by Mark’s index finger which points at Jinyoung accusingly.

 

But Jinyoung doesn’t understand. He doesn’t deserve to be blamed, well at least not for this incident in preschool. “I what? I never said that. I told her you had the prettiest doe eyes ever and that I plan on confessing to you.”

 

“You're making this up!”

 

“I don't! And then I confessed to you and you laughed in my face and told me that you would rather date freaking Psyduck before you would even look at me,” Jinyoung whines, feeling stupid but also hurt all anew while telling this story in this setting.

 

“But no,…Maryanna, she told me that.... wait.... she told me that about you and the hammerhead shark ……. and a week after you did, she confessed to me.”

 

“Wooooow, this Maryanna Chong was a real meanie,” he hears Youngjae gasp.

 

“She tricked us! She tricked us both! I thought she was my friend but she played me!” Jinyoung blurts out his realization. It’s as frustrating as it is disturbing.

 

“What the heck… this little preschool bitch!”

 

“Wooow... Mark Tuan just said bitch!”

 

“But he’s right, isn’t he?”

 

“Yeah, Bitchy Chong really deserves that.”

 

Jinyoung is still too stunned to take in all the hushed statements of his students. His mind is racing, trying to make any sense of his emotions. “Yes, yes she is! I hated you for more than twenty years because of her!”

 

“Jinyoungie,” Mark says softly and comes closer. Before he continues to speak he snatches one of Jinyoung’s hands in the both of his, holding it dearly. The touch lets Jinyoung almost faint. “I am so sorry. I mindlessly believed her even though we were the best of friends back then. I should have known better. I was just so hurt by the notion of you making fun of me behind my back. I was so disappointed. And to think that you never had any idea about all of this and I…. I was so mean to you. I’m sorry.” The sound of his voice is low, earnest and pleading and matches the look in his pretty doe eyes perfectly.

 

It’s so easy to lose oneself in the softness of his gaze.

 

“Mr. Park,” Sowon pipes up and snaps him out of his woozy state. “Will you hate-tweet about Maryanna Chong now?”

 

“Noooo, Mr. Park only hate-tweets about celebs, not stinky commoners,” Jackson answers instead.

 

“You all act like I would hate-tweet on a regular basis. What's up with that?” Jinyoung says peeved, trying to stay calm with Mark so close to him, trying to stay calm with Mark gingerly caressing his hand.

 

“Maybe you do that for some time already and we just wouldn’t know about this because this is the first thing which blew up,” Yugyeom adds for consideration.

 

“I can assure you that’s not the case.”

 

“Uhm… Mr. Tuan?” Hyejin asks, seeming nervous for the first time ever, at least in front of Jinyoung to witness.

 

“Just Mark is fine, sweetie,” Mark replies, smiling charmingly at her.

 

“S-S-Sweetie?” And here is the usually so collected Hyejin going completely down the drain. And yes, there's even a slight blush appearing on her cheeks.

 

“Yes, sweetie, what do you want to know?”

 

“Huh? Oh...yeah, right. If Maryanna Chong wouldn't have been a preschool bitch, would you have accepted Mr. Parks confession back then?”

 

“Of course I would,” the model answers without hesitation while squeezing Jinyoung’s hand in his. “He was the cutest, chubby-cheeked boy around and I had my eyes on him since the first day we met. I even let him play with my modeling clay. Let's talk about overstepping bounds.” Jinyoung wouldn’t rule out that now he’s the one who’s blushing.

 

“Wow Mr. Park, Maryanna Chong really ruined a lot for you,” Jackson announces.

 

“Yeah, seems like it,” the teacher answers meekly before he turns to the guy who’s still caressing his hand. “Uhm...Mark, I'm really sorry about the tweet. I will write an apology-tweet right away.”

 

“Oh it's fine, my brand reputation went through the ceiling after your tweet. I have a bucket full of new offers for all kind of projects,” Mark chuckles. It sounds cute.

 

“So everything is fine?” Jinyoung splutters.

 

“Now even more than ever.”

 

“Then why are you even here?”

 

“I just wanted to see you,” Mark says sweetly and doesn’t even know that Jinyoung’s heart goes into overdrive.

 

“Why now?”

 

“Jinyoungie, after preschool I had no idea where to find you. To be honest, even though we parted ways with this argument in our minds, later in my teenage years I thought often about you and about how to find you. But now, with this tweet, it was rather easy. Who uses his own picture when sending a hate-tweet?” he asks, trying to stifle his giggles.

 

“Yeah, we asked the same thing,” someone in the audience points out.

 

“Hmpf.”

 

“So cute,” Mark continues, now freely laughing, and Jinyoung hopes he doesn’t look as flustered as he feels. “You still look like your preschool-self and also you loved Jigglypuff back then. It really was easy to recognize you. And you offered me a great reason to ask my law team to find out about your whereabouts. They just thought I’m bitter and want to know who this careless person is. The truth is, I just wanted to find my preschool crush.”

 

“Hey Mark, now that we’re friends you can be my wingman. We can go out together and check out some hot guys and girls. How about that?” Jackson comes out of nowhere and throws his arm around the baffled model.

 

“Excuse me, who did you say you were?”

 

“Jackson! Sit down!”

 

“Exactly, thank you for the introduction, Mr. Park. Jackson Wang at your service, Mark.” He even winks at him. Jinyoung needs to check the school’s guidelines again to confirm, if it’s truly illegal to kill a student, even if it’s entirely deserved.

 

“How old are you? 12?”

 

“I’m 16!” Jackson shrieks, scandalized.

 

“You can't even go to a club.”

 

“I caaaaaan.”

 

“Jackson, sit down!”

 

“But-“

 

“Jackson, listen to your teacher!” Mark supports and that does the trick. The blonde sulks but returns to his seat.

 

“Jinyoungie, I have a schedule in a bit and have to go soon. Give me your address, please.”

 

“W-What for?”

 

“What for? I’m coming over this evening.”

 

“What?”

 

“Or do you have plans?”

 

“N-No, but-“

 

“Great! Just write it down.” Jinyoung’s hand is finally released just to receive Mark's phone. While he types the desired information several people are piping up, whining about their teacher’s phone ban and the once in a lifetime opportunity to take a selfie with a famous model. So Jinyoung looks at Mark carefully and the latter smiles and nods. With that Jinyoung allows everyone to hold their little meet and greet. Mark is the kindest soul and distributes signatures, hugs and smiles and poses for numerous selfies with the students. It’s truly heartwarming to look at. His students are so happy and Mark is so patient and sweet with them, no matter how flustered or cheeky they are. Jinyoung debates, if this is truly the guy he grumbled about for more than 20 years.

 

Before Mark leaves to hurry to his schedule, he hugs Jinyoung, almost as long as BamBam hugged him before. He hears some of his students whistle in the background but he just doesn’t care. This hug is everything.

 

When Mark is gone there is silence for a few seconds, it all seems so surreal.

 

“I can’t believe Mark Tuan was just here in this room,” Youngjae marvels and breaks the tranquility. Everyone agrees but among those statements Jinyoung hears a sob as well.

 

“Jenna, why are you crying?” he asks after finding the source of it.

 

“I can’t believe my teacher stole my future boyfriend. What kind of life is this?” she whines.

 

“E-E-Excuse me, what? I didn’t steal anyone.”

 

“Mr. Park, pleeaaase. This guy is still into you,” Jackson says with a smirk and a finger gun.

 

There comes a lot of affirmation from different students and two loud cries, one from Jenna of course.

 

“BamBam, you as well?”

 

“He was also my future boyfriend, Mr. Park,” the boy sniffles.

 

“That's...uhm... too bad?”

 

The two devastated teenagers release loud wails again.

 

“Mr. Park, just say sorry to them,” Hyejin hisses.

 

“Why would I? I didn't do anything?” Jinyoung replies, dumbfounded.

 

“It doesn't matter. Just apologize and then lets hope it will calm them down,” the now again collected girl sighs.

 

“Uhm… okay, if you feel better that way I would like to apologize.” He looks between Jenna and BamBam, hoping that this really would stop their emotional outbursts.

 

“I really would feel better, if we would watch a movie,” the boy whines and Jinyoung just rolls his eyes.

 

“The lesson is almost over anyway. Just take your phones and do something with them, stare at your Mark pictures or anything. Tomorrow we will watch a movie.”

 

“YAY!”

 

“But a historical one.”

 

“Ugh… that sucks.”

 

 

 

(●＾o＾●)

 

 

 

 

Jinyoung almost runs home after classes are over. He has no idea when Mark will come but he will come and Jinyoung's apartment looks still disastrous after his weekend of hermit life.

 

So he spends the next hour to tidy up and clean (superficially) his apartment so it doesn't look like some nasty underground monster made this its new trash can home. Then he hops in the shower. Jinyoung doesn't even know why. There's literally no reason to shower before Mark shows up but it just feels right.

 

But then the next crucial decision awaits him. What to wear? Would it be odd, if he would wear something else than during his work day? No, not if it's homewear. What the heck, he can't welcome Mark Tuan in sweatpants and Donald Duck slippers. Thinking is exhausting, he decides. So he throws his doubts over board and just slips in some nice pair of black, skinny jeans and a striped sweater. He wouldn't wear skinny jeans to school but he also doesn't need to look like a teacher when Mark Tuan comes to visit.

 

By the time Jinyoung is done with his preparations, he's all run down. Since Mark left his class room this morning, in the back of Jinyoung's mind was a giddy voice screaming about how Mark Tuan actually isn't a damn trash-human fucking mean bastard bitch. No, he was just a deceived kid back then, just like Jinyoung was. Mark Tuan never meant to make him feel miserable. He never meant to make fun of him. And now Jinyoung has to reset all his thoughts about him because just from the time they spent together this morning it seems that Mark Tuan is a completely fine human.

 

The doorbell rings. The nervousness makes Jinyoung feel like his whole body crumbles to dust. But he quickly pushes everything aside, inhales deeply and marches towards the door. He pushes the button which opens the main entrance downstairs, then opens his apartment door and waits.

 

Mark jogs up the steps, wearing the same outfit he wore this morning. When he looks up and spots Jinyoung a bright smile blooms on his handsome face.

 

“Jinyoungie!” he happily pants while taking the last steps. His smile is so gorgeous, it feels like someone would throw a brick at Jinyoung's face.

 

“You really came,” Jinyoung says meekly, staring at the smiling boy who is now standing right in front of him.

 

“Of course, did you think I was lying? What for?”

 

“Uhm...no... I didn't. It just still feels kind of unreal,” he mumbles without being able to avert his eyes from the other's beaming face.

 

“Hey Jinyoungie, can I come in?”

 

“SURE!” Jinyoung wishes he wouldn't have yelled that. He wishes that he would have reacted like a normal human. But Mark only smiles wider when he enters the apartment and gets rid of his shoes.

 

“I have some gifts for you,” the visitor says and rummages in the big shopping bag which he had brought with him. “Here, I got you flowers,” he says and pushes a cute bouquet of different white and rose colored flowers into Jinyoung's hands. “and some colorful modeling clay, a Jigglypuff plushie and ..uhm… some orange juice.” He holds the three items in his hands to present them to Jinyoung and looks at him expectantly.

 

“Err…why?”

 

“The flowers to say I’m sorry about back then and the other things because I remember you liked them in preschool,” he reasons.

 

“I was a toddler. You expect me to still like the same things today?”

 

“No, but it’s better than nothing. I tried to find out what you like by stalking your twitter but you literally post something every few weeks and it's mainly history-related puns. So no idea what you like today.”

 

“Right. Okay, that’s a little creepy but also sweet. Also I still like orange juice a lot. And.... give me that Jigglypuff as well.” Jinyoung snatches the two items before he turns around to head to the kitchen. As soon as his back is facing Mark a small smile appears on Jinyoung's lips. Mark is really trying here.

 

“YES!” he hears Mark cheering when he follows behind him. “But about the modeling clay, Jinyoungie, did you see that it has even glitter in it?”

 

“Wow, then it's something completely different,” Jinyoung says with fake enthusiasm while he prepares a vase for the flowers.

 

“Maybe your students would like it?”  
  


“They are teens, Mark. They would only like it if they somehow could charge their phones with it,” Jinyoung laughs.

 

“I guess the glitter doesn't hold that much power.” He looks a bit dejected now.

 

“Well, I guess I can still make some use of it when my niece comes over to play.”

 

“You have a niece!” His eyes are shining brightly again. Jinyoung likes that much more than the dejected look.

 

“Yep, a very cute and bubbly one.”  
  


“I imagine her to be like you back then.”

 

“What?”

 

“Cute and bubbly, that's basically the description of preschool-Jinyoungie.”

 

“Uhm... thank you.” Jinyoung inwardly prays that he's not blushing. It feels like he's blushing though. Mark beams at him. Yep, he's probably blushing. Time to change the topic. “Heeeey, you want to eat something? I was just about to order Bulgogi so.....”

 

“Yes, I would like that, Jinyoungie.” His voice is so soft when he says his name. And why is he smiling so brightly all of the time. Doesn't his face hurt?

 

Jinyoung quickly orders their dinner. When he turns around he sees how Mark wanders around in his living room, eyeing all the things in his shelves.

 

“What are you doing there?”

 

“Finding out what your life is like.”

 

“So what is my life like?”

 

“Neat, structured, calm.”

 

“You say I'm boring.” At that Mark tears his eyes away from Jinyoung's collection of favorite books and DVDs to turn around and face him.

 

“Why do you think I mean that in a negative way?”

 

“Because your life is probably the exact opposite, like exciting, wild, a true adventure. So I guess compared to that my life looks boring.”

 

“Not at all. I mean yes, your life probably is a lot calmer than mine but it's not a bad thing. At least that's what I think. Aren't you satisfied with your life?”

 

“Yes, I am. I like my friends, my apartment, my job-”

 

“I knew it,” Mark blurts out, eyes twinkling with excitement while he's snapping his fingers. “I was always thinking about how you would have become such a good teacher. Even when we were kids you wanted to be one and of course you pulled through.” His tone of voice is so full of enthusiasm that it's contagious. Jinyoung feels encouraged to tell a bit more about himself, now that he knows Mark isn't looking down on him.

 

“Yeah, it’s fun to teach and even to deal with my student’s antics. I mean… you witnessed them,” he says, smiling sheepishly.

 

“You seem to have a very good and easy relationship with them. I totally have the feeling that they respect you as a teacher but they would also come to you with their worries. And the next second they would share the latest dick joke with you and show you memes and stuff.”

 

Jinyoung laughs out loud and claps his hands. “Amazing, you hit the nail on the head. I don't know how you did this after such a short time.”

 

“It's obvious. They really lucked out,” Mark says, smiling sweetly before he turns back to continue examining Jinyoung's stuff.

 

“I heard this rumor about you and this one actress, Hwang Yereum.” Jinyoung decided to casually approach this matter. The giddy voice in the back of his head is screaming at him to find out, if Mark is single. Jinyoung doesn't know why he should even care about it. But the giddy voice says it's important to know in order to stay alive.

 

“Oh... you’re well informed about my life,” Mark declares. The surprise is obvious in his voice but he doesn't turn around. Jinyoung still has his back view, not the worst view to be honest.

 

“Yeah… well… my students gossip a lot,” Jinyoung quickly serves an excuse.

 

“In class?”

 

“S-Sometimes?”

 

“Are they only gossiping about me?”

 

“Noooo no no, everyone. They are gossiping about the world. They are teenagers, it’s like their job, you know?”

 

“Huh. Well, yeah there is this rumor, but it's just that, just a rumor and nothing more.” The giddy voice for once shuts up to sigh with relief. And Jinyoung must admit that there are some tiny puffs of happiness bursting inside of him upon hearing that. “We're close because of my relationship with her brother.” These puffs of happiness suddenly turn into ice blocks which shatter on the ground of realization.

 

“What does that mean?” Jinyoung asks cautiously.

 

“Huh?”

 

“You are in a relationship with her brother?”

 

At that Mark turns around again. He looks at Jinyoung with a serious expression, his head tilted to the side. Jinyoung feels like a deer caught in the headlights under the intensity of his full attention.

 

“No, I was in a relationship with her brother about a year ago. It only lasted three months, to be honest. But it was good because I met her and she's a really good friend of mine since then.”

 

“Ooooohhh.”

 

“Honestly, it's a bit of a pain. As soon as you're talking with some other person and look only remotely intimate, immediately some reporters screaming about dating and stuff. It's a bit annoying but I guess it can't be changed.”

 

“I see. Some of my students went through a hard time because of this rumor,” Jinyoung snickers. Not for all the money in the world would he admit that he himself went through the hardest time because of this rumor.

 

“That's the worst part of all this mindless spreading of rumors. I have a few fans and-”

 

“You have a huge fanbase.”

 

“I try to be humble here, Jinyoungie. So my fans always hear these dumb rumors and they are hurt by them. They think I do things behind their backs. But it's not the case. As soon as I am serious enough about someone I would have no doubts about revealing it to the public.”

 

“Even if it damages your career?”

 

“Yes. My partner as well as my fans deserve sincerity.”

 

“Wow....”

 

“Not the conceited model boy you expected?” Mark asks with a smirk playing on his lips.

 

“That... that in the class room.... it was because I was mad at you. It's pretty obvious to me now that you're not conceited at all,” Jinyoung says sulkily.

 

“God Jinyoungie, you're a grown man and you're still pouting. That's so adorable.”

 

“Ador...WHAT?” Jinyoung squeaks and Mark snickers.

 

“Even that was adorable. You don't do this on purpose, right?”

 

“What?”

 

“Being cute?”

 

“I... I don't know what you mean,” Jinyoung huffs and Mark throws his head back while he's laughing once again.

 

“I see, this much can't be done on purpose.” Jinyoung feels himself blushing again. He hates this treacherous habit. “Hey Jinyoungie, what's this?”

 

Jinyoung walks over to him to see what he's talking about. But he knows even before he arrives because Mark is crouching down in front of his fashion magazine collection. The model already pulled out one copy to leaf through it.

 

“NO!” Jinyoung yells while he goes down on his knees and blocks the way to the magazines. He inwardly curses himself. How could he be so stupid and forget to hide them away?! Mark looks at him with wide, beautiful eyes. Still his surprise isn't distracting him enough to let go of the magazine he holds in his hands.

 

“Do you hide porn in between those magazines?”

 

“No! Oh my god, Mark, no!”

 

“Then what about this dramatic reaction?”

 

“Nothing!”

 

“It's just that you're afraid I would steal them from you, right?” Mark jokes. “Update for you, I have enough of these fashion magazines myself. I get every single one in which I appear for free. And I definitely remember this shoot here.” The model turns the magazine so Jinyoung can see the double page with Mark's not very much dressed, toned body on it.

 

Jinyoung thinks there might be the point where he can't blush anymore but he didn't seem to have reached this particular point yet. He remains silent. He just tears his eyes away from half naked magazine-Mark to look up into those pretty, twinkling doe eyes.

 

“I wouldn't have reckon you as a fashion fan.”

 

“S-S-Sometimes when I see an appealing fashion magazine somewhere I just buy it. No big deal.”

 

“Of course not. Let me see some of the others.” Mark nudges Jinyoung gently away so that he has access to the collection. Jinyoung just silently prays.

 

Mark leafs through six other magazines and Jinyoung notices how his brows are scrunching together while he detects his own face in every single one of them. He slowly lifts his head to look at Jinyoung. “Say, is it possible that all of these magazines include one of my photo shoots?”

 

“Don't know. Might be a coincidence?”

 

“Yeah? It's a bit odd, right?”

 

Jinyoung only shrugs. Damn, he knows he isn't a good liar. And why is the model so smart? Isn't it enough that he's so handsome? How does he deserve to be also smart? So unfair.

 

“Jinyoungie, might it be the case that you collected my photo shoots even though you hated my guts?” he asks, amused.

 

“No!”

 

“No?”

 

“No!”

 

“But why are-”

 

“Just no, Mark, okay? What can I do, if you always appear in quality magazines? It's a coincidence. Can we please just agree on that?”

 

Mark chuckles and it's adorable. “Sure Jinyoungie, let's agree on the coincidence then.” He watches how Mark puts the magazines neatly back in place. Jinyoung knows he got caught. Still he's grateful that Mark isn't digging deeper.

 

“Who is this?”

 

While Jinyoung is still reveling in relief, Mark is already scanning the next item. He holds a framed picture in his hands. Jinyoung stands up and steps next to him to behold it as well. It's him and Jaebum on a fishing trip. Jaebum loves fishing and he spent approximately two years on convincing Jinyoung that he should try it as well. Eventually Jinyoung gave in and accompanied Jaebum. Result: Jinyoung is still not a fan of fishing but he spent a great time with Jaebum and they have gotten even closer. A fellow fisher took that picture of them after Jinyoung had his first and last successful catch, a very small mackerel... or halibut.. or whatever. Jaebum was so happy that he had thrown his arms around Jinyoung's shoulder and waist sideways and beamed in the camera. Jinyoung is laughing as well in that picture, mainly because of his best friend's overwhelming happiness.

 

“That's my best friend, Jaebum.”

 

“Best friend, huh?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“As in... not boyfriend, right?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“And is there a boyfriend? Or a girlfriend?”

 

“You care?”

 

“I want to know how you have been in all those years.... and how you are right now.”

 

In this moment Jinyoung once again realizes that it's absolute surreal that a famous model is standing in his living room and asks him details of his life. It felt kind of natural here and there but right now, with Mark looking so intently at him while holding a picture of a memory he isn't part of, it seems very odd again. Because yes, Mark isn't part of his life. So standing here and acting as if Jinyoung's daily routines are kind of important to him, feels weird and Jinyoung wants to know what's going on with this. “Mark, what are you doing here?” he eventually sighs.

 

“What do you mean?”  
  


“You're strolling around my apartment, acting like it would be the most normal thing to do while you probably should be at some high-fashion party. Additionally you're supposed to hate me, or dislike me at least.”

 

“Am I?”

 

“I guess so?”

 

“Why?”

 

“The tweet? It's very hate-worthy in my opinion.”

 

“Did you do it because you wanted me to hate you?”

 

“No, I was drunk.”

 

Mark bursts out laughing once again. “Okay, now this is even funnier.”

 

“You think this is funny?” Jinyoung is more than surprised.

 

“Well, let me rephrase it. First, I told you this tweet brought me a lot of new opportunities. And second, at least you managed to entertain me. I'm tired of the usual hate which people would throw at me. They are all so uncreative. All these things like 'Go die!' and 'Why are people paying you for this ugly head?' became kind of boring through the years. But 'damn trash-human fucking mean bastard bitch' had me on the floor, Jinyoungie. Great job.”

 

“Yeah, seems like I wasted my talent as a teacher while I could be a super good drunken hate-tweeter and insult people just for the hell of it. Yay.”

 

Mark snickers again at that. “You're talented. Barely any hate tweet gets so much attention.”

 

“Now I feel encouraged. I hand in my notice tomorrow.”

 

“You're so funny, Jinyoungie. You were funny back then as well. I missed you.”

 

This is unexpected, way too unexpected for Jinyoung to process in a matter of seconds. So he opts to stare and gape and of course blush. He doesn't want to continue to look so stupid so he tries to ignore Mark's statement and change the topic once again. “So people really say things like that to you, yeah? Things like... you know....”

 

“Go die?”

 

“Yes,” Jinyoung whispers.

 

“Yep, a lot. It was difficult in the beginning, really. It truly got to me. I also considered to stop modeling at all at one point. But over time I got used to it.”

 

“That sounds horrible.”

 

“It wasn't very pleasant, I admit that. But I started to focus on the positive things, on fans and the good things they said about my work. That helped a lot.”

 

“Sorry.”

 

“What for?”

 

“For being one of the horrible people.”

 

“You are...... you are different, Jinyoung. You always were. And you had a good reason to hate on me.”

 

“I... I really don't know. I feel stupid now that I know it was all a misunderstanding and I even regret the tweet more.”

 

“But without the tweet I wouldn't have found you.”

 

“Yeah.... that's true. Blessing in disguise, huh? But I'm glad that you say this stupid tweet brought good things to you.”

 

“Yep. At first I expected it to hurt my career but most people just believed that you're a bitter liar.”

 

“How nice.” Jinyoung puts on his best fed up expression and Mark giggles again. Jinyoung likes to make him happy with his natural talent of being sulky.

 

“And honestly, what happened then, I never would have dared to even dream about. This one company wants to launch a new perfume with me and call it 'Heartbreaker'. There's also planned to bring out chocolates with my name on it, like anti-couple chocolates. The concept is that it's meant for singles to give to each other, suitable for every day except Valentine's Day. And I am also supposed to play the role of a charming bad boy in an upcoming drama. I'm going to be an actor. Can you imagine, Jinyoung? And it's all thanks to you.”

 

“That's also horrible.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Cyberbullying shouldn't have such positive effects, right?”

 

“Oh... well, you're probably right. But in this case it's fine. It's an exception. So how can I thank you for my career boost?”

 

“I don't necessary need anything. I'm glad we cleared up this misunderstanding though.”

 

“Yes, me too. But would you please finally tell me, if you're in a relationship or seeing someone?”

 

“W-why is this important?”

 

“It's important because I want to give you something as a thank you and therefore it's necessary for me to know.”

 

“I....uhm... I don't really understand but no, I'm not seeing someone these days.”

 

“Awesome,” Mark cheers. And to Jinyoung's surprise Mark places his soft palm on his cheek while his pretty doe eyes, still the prettiest Jinyoung had ever seen, are gazing into his. Jinyoung can't move, his body forgot how to. He's helpless. The giddy voice in his head screams its lungs out. Can just a voice in his head have lungs? Jinyoung doesn't know but the panic is real.

 

And suddenly Mark leans in. His ripe lips are sliding gently against Jinyoung's, once, twice. The voice howls at him to finally respond. Jinyoung wants it to shut up so he complies. He shuts his eyes and kisses back. It's a slow and careful kiss but it's enough to have heat shooting through Jinyoung's body like fireworks. Mark feels so good against him. His hand is gently stroking his cheek while his soft lips are trying to give Jinyoung a heart attack. It's so easy to get lost in this feeling of joy.

 

And then there's the sound of the doorbell which startles them and is the reason to interrupt their blissful kiss. They stare at each other, Jinyoung's eyes probably never were that wide before.

 

“You.... you kissed me!”

 

“Yes.”

 

“You can’t just walk in here and kiss me.”

 

“Yeah, you’re absolutely right.”

 

“But you just did.”

 

“That’s also true. Then I guess I can.”

 

“Mark!”

 

“What? You kissed back. And I like to point out that it was a very good kiss.”

 

There's the doorbell once again, Jinyoung already forgot about it. But the waiting person obviously gets impatient out there and proves it by pressing the doorbell about 20 times per second.

 

“I guess that's the delivery guy,” Jinyoung mumbles before he scampers to the door.

 

But when he waits at the open apartment door he soon realizes that it's not the delivery guy, but Jaebum who sprints up the flights of steps.

 

“Jinyoung!”

 

“Jaebum? Hi, what are you-”

 

Jaebum almost knocks him over when he throws his arms around him. “Jinyoung! For the last three hours you didn't message me and I was worried, so I called you but you didn't answer a single one of my calls. Are you dead?”

 

“You are literally talking to me and hugging me. How would I be dead?” Jinyoung answers calmly.

 

Jaebum pulls his head away from Jinyoung's shoulder to behold him but he still is gripping his shoulders tightly, as if he's worried Jinyoung would disappear right in front of his eyes. “Yes, yes okay. You're alive. I'm so glad. I honestly thought one of this crazy Mark Tuan fans came to slaughter you.”

 

“Don't worry, he's save with me.” Both their heads jerk to the side to spot Mark leaning against the door frame to the living room with crossed arms.

 

“This is Mark Tuan.” Jaebum's voice is disturbingly high. “Oh my god, he came in person to murder you!” Jaebum moves quickly and pushes Jinyoung behind himself to shield him from Mark. “You won't get him! Over my dead body!” he growls at the model. The latter's eyebrows shoot up to his forehead. He sighs and unfolds his arms before he slowly moves towards them.

 

“I'm not here to do anything bad to Jinyoung.”

 

Every time Mark comes closer Jaebum pushes Jinyoung back a bit. “No? Then what are you here for.”

 

“Well that's my question as well,” Jinyoung adds from behind his friend.

 

“Come on Jinyoungie, we had a good time together until now, right?”

 

“Jinyoung, is he lying?”

 

“No,” Jinyoung sighs and emerges from behind Jaebum. “He's not lying. We were talking and.... we were talking, yes.”

 

“But...how... I mean.... I'm confused.”

 

“It's a long story but he's not here to kill me.”

 

“Hi, I'm Mark,” the model introduces himself to Jaebum.

 

“And I'm confused.”

 

“Hey... uhm...sorry? Did you order Bulgogi? The doors were open so... oh my god, Mark Tuan!”

 

Great, now the delivery guy also stands in the hallway and is freaking out about the celebrity.

 

“Hi,” Mark greets, unfazed.

 

“Can we take a selfie together? Nobody would believe me this.”

 

“Sure, if you won't reveal where you met me, I'm in.”

 

“Awesome,” the guy cheers and shoves the food in Jinyoung's arms on the way to Mark. While they take photos together Jinyoung gives Jaebum an update on the situation. In return, he just stares at him with his mouth wide open.

 

The delivery guy finally leaves them alone after the private meet and greet.

 

“Soooo... we're eating Bulgogi, yeah?” Jaebum asks, blinking at the both of them.

 

“We?” Jinyoung asks with furled eyebrows.

 

“This delivery service has always big portions,” Jaebum points out. “Also I want to eat with Mark Tuan,” he whispers. It was still loud enough for Mark to hear, Jinyoung is sure.

 

“Uhm... I'm not sure... uhm-”

 

“Hey Jaebum, how about we postpone this? We can eat together soon. I would love to get to know you better, since you're Jinyoung's close friend. But now we kind of need some time alone, okay?”

 

“We do?” Jinyoung asks astounded.

 

“Yes.”

 

“What for?” Jaebum asks curiously.

 

“You see, I kind of want to convince Jinyoung that being my boyfriend would be a good idea.”

 

“WHAT?” both boys are shouting.

 

“Okay, let's start at the beginning. If one guy and another guy find each other really nice and attractive, they start to date and they-”

 

“I know what a boyfriend is,” Jaebum says incredulously.

 

“Oh... it didn't seem like you did. But yes, you understand why we need this evening for the two of us, right?”

 

“YES! Okay, I... I'm leaving. Mark, good luck and Jinyoung.... Jinyoung? Are you now dead?”

 

“No.... I... don't think so....”

 

“Okay, you look like you have seen a ghost so.... try to look a little bit more flirty,” Jaebum starts to whisper. “Mark Tuan is looking at you, your damn crush since you started to blabber. Don't screw this up! And call me later... no.... wait! Call me..... just call me tomorrow. Tomorrow is fine. Bye.”

 

And with this Jaebum hurries out of the apartment, slamming the door shut behind himself. Jinyoung still can't convince his body to move.

 

“He said you should call him tomorrow instead of later. He really expects a lot from us,” Mark snickers.

 

“You just... you said.... you want me to be your boyfriend?”

 

“Yes, but don't freak out, okay? I will court you properly, if you want me to. We can go on dates and-”

 

“Court?”

 

“Yes, you should know that I'm serious about you.”

 

“Huh? I mean... no.”

 

“Then I will just kiss you again,” Mark suggests with a hopeful smile.

 

“NO!”

 

“Jinyoungie, now I am confused.”

 

“You barely know me and you want us to be boyfriends. That can't turn out well.”

 

“I do know you. I mean I obviously don't know everything about you but I know what kind of person you are. And even after 20 years you're still fascinating me. It's immediately a feeling like we started where we left off. It feels like home and it feels right and to be honest, I never got completely over you.”

 

“Me neither,” Jinyoung whispers.

 

“That's the real explanation for the nice fashion magazine collection of yours, right?” The smirk on his face is unbearable but so damn attractive.

 

“Naturally, yeah.”

 

“I adore my honest boyfriend.”

 

“I didn't agree yet.”

 

“Jinyoungie, please be my boyfriend. I promise I'm good at this stuff,” he whines like a cutie pie little kid.

 

“I want that.”

 

“Be my boyfriend?”

 

“Yeah,” Jinyoung says and finally his expression of doubt makes way for joy.

 

“YAS!” Mark immediately walks over to him and wraps his arms around the boy. Jinyoung melts into the touch. Mark was right, it really feels like home, like they never parted ways.

 

“But wouldn't it be questionable if you'd suddenly start to hang out with the guy who dissed you online?” Jinyoung asks curiously.

 

“Jinyoungie, it's 2019. Everybody is much too self-absorbed to keep such minor details in mind for longer than a couple of days. Trust me.”

 

“O....Okay,” Jinyoung breathes, distracted by the affectionate gaze of those breathtaking, shining eyes.

 

“I really want to kiss you again, Jinyoungie.”

 

“Then go ahead,” Jinyoung says with a sweet smile playing on his face before he once again feels the softness of Mark's lips against him.

 

This is definitely the most successful Monday in the history of Park Jinyoung.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope it makes your day a bit brighter. ♥


End file.
